<span class="" id="parent-fieldname-description"> With an election due in March this year, both the Western Australian Government and Opposition have begun to outline their key rail policies including a pledge by the Labor party to build a 10.5km rail link to Perth Airport by mid-2018 as part of its proposed wider METRONET rail system. </span> <p>WA Labor leader Mark McGowan said the estimated total cost of the Perth Airport rail line was $731.5m including rail and road infrastructure, excluding any new trains required. </p><p>It would be the first project of WA Labor’s eight-year, $3.8bn METRONET priority program to be built over eight years and deliver what it says would be a world-class rail network to tackle Perth’s congestion crisis.</p><p>“WA Labor will build a rail line to Perth Airport by 2018, as the first stage of METRONET’s South Circle Line. The line will include new rail stations at Airport West/Redcliffe, Perth Airport and Forrestfield/High Wycombe,” McGowan said.</p><p>The project would start during 2014/15 with a completion date set for mid-2018.</p><p>The METRONET priority program includes: the North Circle line, including the Morley-Ellenbrook line sections of the South Circle line, including the Perth Airport line to Forrestfield, and connecting Thornlie to the Mandurah line the extension of the Clarkson line to Yanchep the extension of the Armadale line to Byford new stations at Atwell and Karnup and additional new rail cars.</p><p>According to McGowan, WA Labor is the only party in the election with a “real plan” to fix Perth’s congestion crisis.</p><p>“If current passenger growth rates continue, it is likely Perth Airport will have more than 20 million annual passenger movements by 2020. This will place extra pressures on the airport and the roads leading to it,” he said.</p><p>“Perth needs a rail line to the airport to ease road congestion and provide better services for tourists and business travelers. If elected, we will deliver the airport rail line as part of METRONET.</p><p>“Main Roads estimates it currently takes 53 minutes for people living in Forrestfield and Kalamunda to drive to the city during peak periods. The airport rail line will allow them to make the journey within 40 minutes, creating a major incentive to leave cars at home.”</p><p>McGowan said the Barnett Government’s inclusion of a 5km tunnel in its own proposed airport rail line made the line “prohibitively expensive” and unlikely to ever be built.</p><p>However, WA Treasurer Troy Buswell has also challenged the Opposition’s costings for its METRONET rail plan, saying it would in fact cost $6.4bn.</p><p>Buswell requested that the Labor Party submit its METRONET rail plan for Treasury analysis after claiming he had uncovered a $860m black hole in the airport rail link, according to a report by the Western Australian.</p><p>According to Buswell, Treasury advice obtained through the Public Transport Authority (PTA) WA reportedly estimates the airport rail link would cost $1.595bn, although Buswell refused to release the Treasury analysis, despite saying he planned to expose more “big holes” in the METRONET plan over the course of the election campaign.</p><p><strong>Government extends Fremantle container subsidy </strong></p><p>Meanwhile, the WA Government has committed further support to promote increased use of rail for transporting container freight to and from Fremantle Port with the approval to extend the existing State Government subsidy until 2016/17 at a cost of $15.5m.</p><p>“Rail is playing a significant role in achieving greater efficiency in Fremantle Port’s supply chain while reducing the impacts of truck traffic on the community,” Buswell said.</p><p>“The state government remains strongly committed to increasing the rail share for container trade as a central strategy in securing the long term future of the Inner Harbour.”</p><p>According to Buswell, transporting more containers on rail would take pressure off the road system, with the government’s financial support to allow rail to become more price-competitive with road transport across short haul distances.</p><p>In 2002, about 2% of containers shipped to Fremantle were transported to/from port by rail. Since then, rail’s market share of container freight has risen to about 14% of a total target of 30%.</p><p>“With this increased use of rail for transporting container freight and with more trucks picking up empty containers from Forrestfield rather than at Fremantle, there are an estimated 100,000 fewer truck movements annually on roads linking with the port,” Buswell said.</p><p>Another strategy announced by Buswell is the proposed lengthening of the North Quay Rail Terminal to allow it to handle longer trains. The proposal would be funded jointly by the state and federal governments and would develop rail services as an alternative to road transport and increase the efficiency of the terminal’s rail operations.</p><p>Other projects planned to improve rail links to Fremantle include increasing the capacity of the terminals at Kewdale/Forrestfield and construction of a passing loop at Spearwood, which will enable greater flexibility in train paths.</p>
